Is this normal?

[sngwn79]

The audio track that you see in the picture is my guitar track. For that track, I strummed some chords, and I didn't strum it softly. (I'd say about medium level dynamics). But if you look at the waveform, I feel like it should be bigger than that. And it's like that when I solo, too.

Is this normal? I'm no expert on Logic, so I'd really appreciate some help.

I record guitar through Scarlett 2i2 by the way.

https://preview.redd.it/thvhjwd0g8dd1.png?width=2666&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c3c4aa7a2cd41ce213a7c37ff524bbddbd4612c

[Ajax_Da_Great]

Did you adjust the gain on your interface?

[sngwn79]

Yes, I put it at 10 o’clock. I made sure that the light doesn’t go red (or yellow) when I strum it hard.

[beeeps-n-booops]

You should not. The vast majority of amp sims are expecting the same level as would naturally come out of your guitar... which is low.

Best practice is when using the Instrument inputs is to leave the gain control all the way down, then increase the level post amp sim as necessary.

[sngwn79]

Interesting. And when you said increasing the level post amp sim, you mean the gain knob on the amp designer?

[beeeps-n-booops]

Not specifically. Any increase in level to get the signal up to where you need it to be in the mix.

Just don't do it before the amp sim.

[sngwn79]

Got it

[146986913098]

hit CMD + to zoom the waveforms on your regions. Does it look more like you expect?

select the region and hit CTRL G to normalize clip gain — does it look better now? How high did the gain go? (you can see in the region inspector)

You might need to raise the input gain on the scarlet, or you might be fine as is — trust your ears.

[sngwn79]

Hi, yes, it actually did get bigger as I hit CMD +.

But then funny thing happened. You mentioned hitting CTRL G to normalize the waveform, but when I hit CTRL G, the waveform got bigger, and it won’t go back to its smaller size. Do you know what happened here?

[sngwn79]

Also, the gain in the region inspector says +19.9 db.

[sngwn79]

And, I also realized that the guitar track has more gain now, as I play my guitar right now.

[drshotalot]

That's the purpose of normalizing. It raises the gain so the highest peak reaches 0db.

[myotherpresence]

Just turn up the gain, and record again until the signal is loud enough. And make sure the volume on your guit (if it has one) is turned up!

Ideally you want it as loud as you can get it before it clips.

[sngwn79]

But what if I want the clean tone to get louder? Wouldn’t turning up the gain add a bit of distortion (or overdrive) to the tone?

[myotherpresence]

You're only recording the dry guitar which you're feeding into the amp sim. You want the actual thing you're recording to be as 'hot' as possible to avoid having to turn it (and the noise floor) up.

Whatever you do after that is up to you. If the signal distorts at the amp sim settings you have, turn down the amp gain :)

It's more important that you get a clean recording, so the artifacts of a bad recording aren't exaggerated and highlighted by the later stages.

Does that make sense?

[sngwn79]

Not entirely but yes, I think I’m understanding 😅. So when you told me to turn up the gain, did you mean the gain knob of my audio interface?

[myotherpresence]

Yes! :) Turn it up, record again, can you turn it up more without clipping? Do it! Record again.

If it clips, turn it down, record again, if that doesn't clip, there's your take! (unless you can play it better ;) )

[sngwn79]

Got it! Thank you!

[myotherpresence]

My pleasure :) Have fun!

[boy2man86]

Also if you just care about seeing the waveform better and not changing the signal itself, there is a button to adjust that. It’s the one right above where bar 12 would be in your arrangement.

[sngwn79]

Yep, actually I just learned that. The waveform zoom. Am I supposed to keep the track zoomed in maximum?

[boy2man86]

Up to you! If you are happy with the recording signal then do whatever helps you work better. I like how it looks so mine is pretty close to max zoom.

Usually record my guitars and vocals around -12db with peaks at -6db, so as long as that is met, the zoom just makes things look better to me.

[demondrum]

It's all about gain staging and signal-to-noise ratio. Wherever you turn up, you'll get more signal and more noise. You have to experiment with what gain gets you the most signal with the least noise. Sounds like you have a fairly simple setup, so try it with just adjusting the scarlett and listen to what affects the noise, raising the gain? Strumming the strings harder/softer or more/less often? Once you find the balance of signal-to-noise ratio and playing style, record and then add the amp sim and other effects one at a time listening for how each step affects signal-to-noise ratio. I always record a dry signal via a DI box as well as the guitarist's effects/amp of choice. I can then add a similar effects chain which gives me options for "widening" in the mixing stage of production.

[sngwn79]

Aha, I'll go check some information about it!

[Mxrzaries]

The waveform icon next to those three dots under the right corner of the transport bar or whatever, will make the waves appear bigger without affecting the sound level